Gottlieb Daimler died on the 6th March 1900 aged 75. By this time Wilhelm Maybach had begun construction of the first Mercedes. This was precipitated by the desire of Emil Jellinek, one of Daimlerâs wealthy former customers, to acquire a fast, comfortable car that he could race. Maybach designed a 35 PS motor and built a car according to Jellinekâs specifications. This vehicle was to cement the worldwide reputation of the Daimler brand as it became known to the public in 1901. Two years later Jellinek received permission from his daughter (Mercedes) to incorporate her name into the name of the company.
Independently of Daimler, Carl Benz (1844 â 1929) was working on another petrol driven motor project. The development of the four stroke motor had been followed closely by Benz and he devoted his energies to the task of perfecting this design. By 1879 he had developed his first two stroke motor (the four stroke unit was patent protected). Subsequently Benz worked on the design of the vehicle which would house his motor and in 1886 his three wheeled car was test driven through the streets of Mannheim. Onlookers were aghast at the seemingly haphazard progress of the novel contraption and in one sense their concern was justified. Had an accident ensued, there was no motor insurance, or Autoversicherung, that would have covered the costs of an accident. Kfz Versicherung only became a requirement for European drivers in the 30s. In any event the 29th January 1886 can be considered as marking theâbirthâ of the motor car.
This three wheeled carriage was decisive in setting the benchmark for the future development of the motor car. In order to exploit the interest in his design commercially Benz presented it at the Kraft- und Arbeitsmachinenausstellung (Power und Work Machine Exhibition) in München in 1888. Despite a great deal of interest from the press covering the exhibition no deals were done and Benz transferred his hopes of a breakthrough to the 1889 World Exhibition in Paris.
Unfortunately the Benzs three wheeled wagon was not a success here either. Demonstrating teutonic resolve, Herr Benz began work on a four wheeled, coach styled, vehicle; the Viktoria. Simultaneuously he developed the more affordable Velo. This was priced at 2000 Marks and it was the most popular mass produced car of its day â 1200 were sold.
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Keywords: autoversicherung, bad cannstatt, carl benz, contraption, dmg, driven motor, emil jellinek, european drivers, future development, gottlieb daimler, mannheim
, maybach, motor insurance, onlookers, stroke motor, stroke unit, two stroke, wheeled car, wilhelm maybach, worldwide reputation.
